How to Roll Your Own Cigarettes

Rolling your own cigarettes is a great way to save money and look pretty cool while doing it. The ingredients are pretty simple: you'll need tobacco, rolling papers, and (if you want) filters.

Step 1

Set the rolling paper down in front of you. Many rolling papers come with a fold. This fold is where the tobacco is going to nestle. The end with the glue or gum should be facing up and should be furthest from you.

Step 2

Prepare the tobacco. You'll want about a gram and a half, which is a little bit less than a tablespoon. You'll get a better feel for how much tobacco to use after you've rolled a few cigarettes. Some people prefer them slim, others fat. Distribute the tobacco evenly, so that when you're done rolling, there'll be just a couple of strands poking out the sides. You may find that when you roll a cigarette, you end up pushing the tobacco in the middle out to the sides. That means you're not using an ideal rolling method, but you can compensate for this by putting just a bit more in the middle of the cigarette.

Step 3

Now we start rolling. Pinch the paper above the part where the tobacco is nestling and use both thumbs to roll downwards on the edge closest to you. The goal is to roll the cigarette in such a way that the tobacco will be tightly packed (to give an even burn and a good draw), which means the rolling paper should wrap tightly around the tobacco. Roll it back and forth a few times to get the tobacco well-packed and to start shaping it into a cylinder. If you're including a filter, now's a good time to position that filter at the end of the cylinder.

Step 4

Now the tricky part. Once the tobacco has a good cylinder shape (don't roll it for too long — definitely less than a minute), stop mid-roll with your thumbs at their lowest position. At this point, the tobacco should be in a cylinder and should be trapped by the paper. Roll your thumbs just a little bit farther down, then push inwards so that the edge of the paper closest to you starts to curl downwards, over the tobacco. If you've successfully curled the edge, you can now push your thumbs back up, and the edge will continue to curl around the tobacco, forming a real cylinder shape.

Step 5

Roll it up just enough to leave a small portion of the far edge exposed, the part with the glue on it. Lick the glue lightly to activate it, then roll the cigarette up the rest of the way.

That's it! You are now the proud owner of a cigarette that is probably lumpy, ugly, and nearly impossible to smoke. Don't worry, you'll improve with practice, and pretty soon you'll be able to give James Dean a run for his money.